Best Present
by Poseure
Summary: "And now, after leading her out the car and into his childhood home, she still wouldn't give up with the questions. If he didn't love that about her, he would have gotten really annoyed by then." What Zuko comes up with for Katara's birthday. AU. Fluff.


"Zuko, where are you taking me?"

The boy in question chuckled. "Telling you defeats the purpose of the blindfold."

"Kinky," Katara retorted.

Hearing that, Zuko's voice went husky, "Don't tempt me. Not yet, at least. Not until we get back to the apartment."

He saw his girlfriend of three years blush, and he loved how she still blushed at the though of something sex related after all these years. Granted, she wasn't shy at all during the actual act but . . .

"Zuko, you pig! You can't possibly be thinking about that while I'm blindfolded!"

It was his turn to blush. "N-no," he stuttered, looking down at Katara, who stood with her arms folded defiantly.

"Sure," she retorted, "Next time you suddenly stop leading me to this supposed amazing surprise you can't wait to see my reaction to, try not to do so right after one of us makes a sex joke."

"O-okay." He couldn't help but stutter, the damn minx was far too much temptation for him, even if she was already his.

They began walking once more, with him guiding her gently by holding her wrist. He felt the dark-skinned girl beside him grow frustrated with all the secrecy, but his parents' house was large and walking through it often proved to be confusing, even without a blindfold.

The day started out with her meeting him at their apartment (technically theirs but she still lived with her parents, though she stayed with him often) early in the morning, happy because it was her birthday and because Zuko had hinted to her he had something wonderful planned. But when halfway through the drive he stopped the car and asked she put a blindfold on (he'd purposefully took a different route to his parents' place, one she was not familiar with), she grudgingly agreed . . . after twenty minutes of coaxing. And now, after leading her out the car and into his childhood home, she still wouldn't give up with the questions.

If he didn't love that about her, he would have gotten really annoyed by then.

"Zuko, seriously! I'm starting to get a bit worried, like, what if you brought us to a strip bar and thought it was a good idea?"

"Wait, you don't think a strip bar's a good idea?" Zuko asked, feigning surprise.

"Zuko!" Katara cried, slapping his chest with a loud _thwack_.

"God, Katara, I'm just kidding. Jeez, and take off your damn blindfold, we're here."

Eagerly, she practically ripped the cloth from her face, smiling expectantly before taking in the room they found themselves in. "Zuko?"

Suddenly, he felt a lot more nervous. He'd planned everything in his mind, right down to the pattern of the blindfold she'd be wearing. But the hardest moment to achieve had finally arrived, with the both of them standing in his old training room, where he'd spent countless hours pouring over every move his father taught him, making sure it was as close to the power of his sister's sheer talent.

A memory came back to him, to a time where he was unhappy, living and breathing school and training. It was the day he met Katara.

He had been training, as was the norm for him, when his doorbell rang. Knowing his sister was at some party and his father was on yet another business trip, he angrily ran up the stairs from his basement and answered the door with a scowl.

Standing at the entrance to his house was a girl around his age; tanned skin, lovely blue eyes, thick brown hair and a warm smile. A warm and _sheepish_ smile . . .

"Hi," she said a bit too quickly.

"Hi," Zuko reluctantly said, forcing himself to be calm.

"Um, see, my brother and I, we were with our younger cousin, playing in the park across the street, right. So yeah, basically, I went off to buy us some ice cream while Sokka, my brother, was supposed to watch over Aang." She sighed, sounding exasperated. "That was my mistake, leaving the kid in Sokka's care. See, two minutes later, when I returned, Sokka was standing alone, a panicked look on his face. And now, we're looking all over for our cousin. So, I just wanted to ask, have you seen a small kid with a shaved head and a bit of a dopey but cute smile? He was wearing a hoodie with a blue arrow pattern on it and he's about this tall and . . ." The girl trailed off, her hand still positioned to where she'd pointed out the height of the kid who was missing.

Zuko wanted terribly to answer a gruff no before slamming the door in her face, but there was something about her smile that had him frozen on the spot. "Um. No, from what I know, there hasn't been a boy around here."

The girl took a step back and examined his house, a little awed. "Are you sure? This place is pretty freaking huge."

"I'm sure."

She frowned, furrowing her eyebrows. "Damn. Where could he have gone off? Freaking Sokka." Realizing she was still standing in front of Zuko, she blinked a couple of times, her cheeks going scarlet, before blurting out, "Well, thanks anyway!" Before turning and walking down the drive.

Zuko remembered seeing her at school the next day, never having noticed her before, and asking her if she found her cousin. She smiled at him, explained how the kid was hiding behind the slide back at the park and that she eternally hated her brother, before Zuko shyly proceeded in asking her to hang out with him that afternoon. She didn't know it then, but he'd skipped his daily training session to be with her. And he didn't even regret it.

If anything, he hadn't regretted anything since.

Smiling softly at the puzzled girl before him, Zuko went on to say, "I spent most of my childhood in this room. Training martial arts, trying to master it like my father and older sister had. They were strict and angry with me for not having to same amount of talent as they had, so I forced myself to make them happy.

One day, I was training, extremely angry because there was one kick I couldn't seem to get right. And the doorbell rang. Nobody else was home, so grudgingly I went and answered it." He planted his honey-colored gaze on her, letting it plant itself into her own eyes. "The girl at the door began to ramble about how her idiotic brother had lost her younger cousins while playing with him, and all I could notice was how pretty she was. It made me stop and think about something other than pleasing my father.

Seeing her smile at his recollection of their first meeting spurred him on, erasing any doubts from his mind. "Today, that girl is celebrating her twenty-first birthday, and I'm still standing before her, noticing how pretty she is. And, quite frankly, I'd like to stand before her and notice how pretty she is up until both of us have wrinkles that make our cheeks look like waffles and hair whiter than the snow. So, Katara," he took one step forward, pulling out a velvet box and flicking the top open.

"Will you marry me so that dream of mine can come true?"

Katara, who was standing right in front of him, her eyes like saucers and watering slightly from his confession, hit his arm lightly, nodding her head like a maniac and sniffling as she spoke, "Oh my God, best birthday present ever."

Zuko grinned, slipping the ring on her finger, and putting his forehead on hers. "By the way, you look very pretty right now."

**The fact is this was written for mah BB, because it was her birthday present and I know just how much she loves these two, so I figured, why not? Hehe, yeah, LOVE YA BB! 3**

**Also, please leave a review!**


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